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This is another idea born from necessity… we hadn’t decided/bought a license plate frame or holder, so the idea began to be tossed around. On a roadster, plate positioning is a bit easier because the section below the trunk lid is taller; most plates get mounted there. But since there really isn’t enough height there on a 3 window, we decided to put it somewhere else. Here’s what we came up with.

Masking tape makes it easy to mark dimensions with a pen.

This is the little fixture I came up with to draw a line parallel with the tube. I have the spreader bar clamped to my bench, nestled up against a section of 1.5″ x 1.5″ tubing which is just hanging over the edge of the bench. I used a square and set the ruler so that the mark on the tube (which I made while the spreader bar was still on the car) was at an inch line. Doesn’t matter what number. I could then move the square along the tube and make marks at the number, then connect the dots. Voila! (That’s french for “eh!”)

Here’s a picture of my setup.

I used a cutoff disc to slot the spreader bar.

I cut the bottom off a Bob Drake stainless license plate frame…

…and tig welded it to the stainless spreader bar.

You can see where this is going…

I sectioned the piece that I cut off the bottom of the Bob Drake frame, and welded it to the spreader bar at the bottom of the license plate.

Now I have a short license plate that doesn’t interrupt any body lines. I still have to make a final decision on a light…

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Welder Series’ parts are being used in lots of different ways. If you have digital pictures of how you used our parts, please email them to us. We will put a credit on your account (against future purchases – the credit has no redeemable cash value) of $5.00 for each picture that we use on our website and/or in our catalog. (Note that we might not use all pictures sent.) Please send pictures in .jpg format. Sending the picture gives us the right to use it.

In your cover email, tell us if we can use your name in the Tech Sharing text around your picture(s). We won’t give out your email address or any other personal info.

Tech Sharing is meant to inspire your imagination. Exact measurements will seldom be given because we build hot rods, not production line cars. Tech Sharing is not to be taken as an endorsement of the application. You should decide that for yourself.

We hope you enjoy seeing what others have done and that you will take advantage of this offer.

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Odds and Ends / Powderific
Since the last “miscellaneous stuff” email, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on with the ’32, let alone much more miscellany. In highway terms, it’s “driving on the shoulder”. There are some items on the excuse sheet we’ve hung in the window, however.

First, the space we use to work on the car has been seized by hundreds of odds and ends, all with pallets as magic carpets. The people who were renting the building where we were storing this “stuff” moved, so we had to take it all out. It’s invaded our car building space; thus a chunk of the delay can be blamed away. Second, the powder coaters had some electrical issues while they were trying to set up their oven. The story is a bit longer than that, but all that’s important to me is I can’t be help responsible 🙂

In any case, we did get our powder coated parts and they look really great. We are doing most of the removable frame parts (bars, batwings, adjusters, brake pedal, etc.) in flat black. I have a thing for flat black. I would take a punch for flat black. So, with these parts in hand, I’m able to start reassembling the frame! Now if it wasn’t for all these odds and ends… I think I’m going to have an egarage sale. If you like, sign up for our newsletter and you’ll be able to see what edds and onds we’ve got and how cheap you can get them.

Now the next step is to make the frame black too so we can start putting the pieces together. I can’t believe the clarity of the parts even after the powder coating. The welds aren’t muddy looking, and the finish is very consistent. I hope it’s as durable as it is good looking. I’ll keep you posted on the frame painting process.

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I welded stainless washers to stainless allen head cap screws for the body mount bolts.

We thought for a while, drew our thoughts on the blackboard, and finally came up with a much simpler edition. Since the floor of the Bear Fiberglass body is so thick (almost 2″), and it is composed of two layers of fiberglass sandwiching a sort of foam material, it can be ‘squished’, for lack of a better word. Imagine standing on a pop can. Or you can stand on a soda can. Either way, unless you’re reading this blog from the comfort of the womb, you will probably collapse the walls of the can. Imagine now that you drop a steel tube inside, just shorter than the height of the can. The walls will collapse just a tiny bit, but then the strength of the tube will hold your weight. Probably.

Same idea here. We’re putting a tube spacer inside the floor so that when the bolts get tightened, they will cinch the body down but won’t be able to overtighten and crush the fiberglass.

This is one of the only pictures you’ll see of me working on the car… and it happens to be the easiest job other than cleaning.

Time to install the engine! Here, the transmission mount is swung (my computer didn’t put a red line under “swung”, so I guess it’s a word) out of the way, waiting for the transmission.

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Sometimes planning ahead can be a pain in the behind. A long time ago, before the rear end was painted, we decided to drill a hole for the breather. Great idea, we thought. It looked pretty slick, right between the four link brackets like it was supposed to be there. Fast forward to a few weeks ago (yes that makes sense if you think about it), and now there is a sway bar tab right over the breather hole. In order of priority, the sway bar tab wins. I had tacked it in place from below, and I didn’t notice/didn’t remember that the breather hole was there too.

I removed the tab, filled the hole, ground it smooth, and welded the sway bar tabs permanently. Then we had to choose a new location for the breather. As it turns out, it was a good thing we waited to install it; Garth Webb, a builder from next door, brought over this mini stainless breather for us to use! The holes in the sway bar tabs are 3/8″, so you can get an idea of how tiny this little guy is.